Legal gadfly Larry Klayman has resigned as chairman of Judicial Watch to seek the Republican Senate nomination in Florida.

He has contacted GOP consultants to enlist their services for his forthcoming primary campaign, well-placed sources said. His formal announcement is scheduled for Tuesday in Tampa.

Klayman, whose conservative legal foundation that has been a perpetual thorn in the sides of politicians of all stripes, has sued almost everyone from presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton to Osama bin Laden.

Judicial Watch, which Klayman founded in 1994, would not comment yesterday on the candidacy or resignation, and the potential candidate himself was traveling and could not be reached. Hes in an undisclosed location, said a spokeswoman. I honestly dont know his whereabouts now.

A new website, klaymansenate.com, went online yesterday. It quoted Klayman, who has communted between Miami and Washington for nearly a decade, as saying: As a conservative, I pledge to never tire in defense of our faith, our liberty, and our freedom.

Although the sources said he resigned from Judicial Watch over the weekend, the organizations website still listed him late yesterday as its chairman and general counsel.

I dont know who he is, Ive never met him, he hasnt called me, he hasnt tried to contact the party, said Jeffrey Becker, director of the Republican Party of Florida. The main claim to fame Ive heard is that he tried to sue the president and the vice president. So thats not exactly a way to engender goodwill on the Republican side. Its just rather odd.

Equally surprised was the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which responded coolly.

We have a strong field in Florida with people like [State Senator Daniel] Webster, [former Rep. Bill] McCollum, [Rep. Dave] Weldon and [State House speaker] Johnnie Byrd who are experienced leaders in that state, said Dan Allen, NRSC communications director. Were comfortable where we are now knowing that Florida has the potential to be a real competitive race.

With a seemingly inexhaustible armory of lawsuits, official complaints and Freedom of Information requests, Klaymans Judicial Watch has zealously pursued politicians for alleged malfeasance.

Initially, the good-governance crusade was aimed at the Clinton administration. The topics he pursued included the circumstances surrounding the death of deputy White House counsel Vince Foster, the administrations fundraising practices, and the former presidents philandering.

With the arrival of the Bush administration, Klayman broadened his sights to include Republicans. In addition to bin Laden and the Senate as a whole, Klayman has pursued Dick Cheney over his ties to Halliburton, which he headed before becoming vice president, and the House and Senate fundraising committees over allegedly selling access to public officials.

Most of Klaymans high-profile suits and complaints have been dismissed, and his litigious trigger-finger has not endeared him to GOP congressional leaders, the administration, the partys affiliates  indeed, Republicans in general.

The NRSC was coy about whether Klaymans legal confrontations with the GOP would undermine Republican support for his candidacy in the event that he won the primary.

I think ultimately thats going to be a question that hes going to have to answer if he does decide to jump into that race, said Allen.

Klayman now faces a number of challenges. Given some of the things hes done, particularly in a Republican primary and with the presidents popularity, hell have some explaining to do, said Republican consultant Dave Winston of the Winston Group.

Klayman has never held political office at the state or federal level. By contrast, the four of GOP candidates have extensive experience and strong grassroots networks. Given Judicial Watchs considerable donor base, Klayman is expected to have adequate funds.

Sources say Klaymans campaign plans to emphasize his opposition to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, casting him as the antidote to the liberal New York Democrat.

In the wake of the Elian Gonzales affair, Klayman has taken a number of legal and publicity actions on behalf of Cuban Americans, a powerful political constituency in Miami.

Well, the good news is that maybe now Judicial Watch can get a REAL lawyer and attain some success instead of just racking up failed lawsuits. They sued Senator Mitch McConnell (CFR lead) and Elaine Chao (his wife) as well, BTW.

It would sure be nice if they could make this Peter Paul/Hillary thing stick. (not holding my breath )

Sources say Klaymans campaign plans to emphasize his opposition to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, casting him as the antidote to the liberal New York Democrat.

Sounds like he needs to carpet-bag it to the Empire State and run agianst Hitlary in '06. Would ultimately help to defeat Hildabeast since whoever is the viable Republican candidate (Giuliani?) can let Klayman sling the mud during the primary. Ref: "good cop, bad cop" routine. May even redeem himself to the GOP.

Klayman burned up at least $50 million dollars "suing people". Probably more like $75 million plus. What did he do? Not much. Can anyone point out any case he won? BTW, their revenue was down about 10 million from 2000 to 2001. Klayman was paid about $280K for 2001.

So why would anyone think he'd be any kind decent Senator? Looks like he'd just pi$$ off more of "other people's money".

If Klayman does get elected maybe he could work on the subject of cleaning up the gross abuse of the "nonprofit" laws in this county. Since he understands them so well.

There are over 850,000 "nonprofits" in America. They basically don't pay taxes and we all subsidize things like their postage costs. And many are in "business" to either push their own political agenda and/or enrich their handlers. Do you realize that the company that publishes "Consumer Reports" is a nonprofit? They are filthy rich. Why don't they pay taxes like the rest of us?

His a regular radio program as well as many articles on the WND webpage and has been on Fox before.

He is a strong social conservative and for small government. He does not follow the establishment of either party and thinks for himself. He is a true conservative in an age were the term been made a hollow one by neo-conservatives those who follow the Republican party first and always put principals second.

No just proves you can slander without regard for the truth. I guess you don't realize also that number of his lawsuits also were for Bush covering up the scandals of the Clintons rather than investigatiing them.

And he was going after Clinton in real way while Republicans played chicken.

At one time, it appeared that Paula Jones' case against Klinton was going to be dismissed and nothing would come of it.

Unfortunately for Klinton, he conspired with others to hide information from the court that was ruled relevant to that case. When this came to light, it led to Klinton's impeachment.

The Judicial Watch case representing Gennifer Flowers has gone through a similar phase. It appeared that she would not get her day in court until an appeals court reversed a lower court ruling dismissing the case.

One might hope that Gennifer's case could have the same impact on Hillary; that is, Hillary will take steps ( or has taken steps ) to hide the truth and that the revelation of these steps will at least reduce the unbelievably high regard that some Demoncrats hold for her.

The Peter Paul case has the same potential to reveal wrong-doing on Hillary's part. Some time back, federal authorities siezed stored records regarding the fundraising that Peter Paul helped organize.

Given the high visibility that either of these cases might generate, whether settled out of court or litigated, I find it surprising that Klayman would distance himself from those efforts.

Additionally, the conspiracy-minded among us might wonder if some back-room deal has been made in which powerful people, perhaps those with access to FBI records, might use their influence to diminish Demoncrat opposition to a Klayman candidacy.

The Adam's case against union thuggery seems to have devolved into some battle over control of the case, jeopardizing a judgement in favor of the Adamses.

If the Flowers case and the Peter Paul case also dissolve throught ineffective litigation, one might wonder just what is really happening.

Whatever one might think of Klayman, it would be hard to claim that this development was predictable.

(Washington, D.C.)Judicial Watch, the group that investigates and prosecutes corruption by government officials, announced today that it is filing a shareholders suit in Dallas, Texas, against Vice President Dick Cheney and the other involved directors of Halliburton, as well as Halliburton itself, for alleged fraudulent accounting practices which resulted in the overvaluation of the companys shares, thereby deceiving investors and others. "This cannot be permitted if our democracy is to survive, stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman. A press conference will be held in Miami at 9:00 A.M. at the Sheraton Hotel at 495 Brickell Avenue to announce and detail this suit.

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